Monochrome Days
by Fragments Of Dreams
Summary: "I can't believe we've actually been friends for a year now..." "Ya know what they say, "you can pick your poison, you can pick your nose but you can't pick your friends"!" "...Was that supposed to make me feel any different? I don't- let me rephrase that- WON'T really pick the former two even if given the choice.""Sure you don't." "Atsuya! Shi-kun, say something!""...No comments."
1. Snowy Spirit

_**Monochrome Days**_

_**Chapter one**_

**_Snowy_**_** Spirit**_

That year, winter came to Hokkaido as meekly as a timid kitten. As though winter had lost its breaths, the usual violent blizzards were substituted by very light snowstorms and windless snowfall from the pearly white sky.

Devoid of its usual intensity, winter was quite a bit more bearable this year to anyone who wasn't accustomed to it just yet.

A young boy with raven hair was one of such number. Usually not a big fan of heat, he wasn't quite used to earnest snowfalls and blizzards of the region since he grew up in Tokyo which only saw dusting of snow occasionally in late winter.

His father worked for a rather wide-spread business company and just recently had been transferred to the Hokkaido branch office.

The ravenette looked as though he was still in primary school; with his average height and rather chubby face (and body, to a surprisingly lesser extent) and black eyes, one could say he had a generic baby-faced look.

He was currently looking out of the fogged-up window of his new room with his forehead pressed against the cool glass.

He was bored. The bed was disheveled and strewn with different books and manga he pulled out only to see that he had read them all a few times already.

Yes, he was an unusual primary school kid in that way. His introverted and quiet nature, coupled with his hatred of loud noises and lack of aptitude for sports makes him the kind of person who'd rather spend his leisure perusing books, manga and games rather than the usual hijinks one would expect from a boy his age.

In essence, one could say he was a budding _hikikomori. _But to his parents' relief he didn't show apprehension when faced with the prospect of leaving the house to such extreme extent. But they still occasionally encouraged him to go outside of the house and socialize.

This was one of the rare occasion that the boy himself had an urge to go outside. It was a new town, so he hardly knew the streets outside the route to his school so naturally curiosity rose in him.

He was especially attracted by the thin blanket of snow on the roads that were rather dark for around noontime.

His onyx eyes scanned the road, occasionally following a passerby who looked interesting. He was still debating whether or not he should go outside, when fate made the decision for him:

"Yume-kun!" His mother called in her bell-like chiming voice from downstairs. He quickly scrambled outside his room and answered, "Yes, Mother?" in a childish voice befitting his appearance.

"How long do you plan on staying cooped up in your room, dear? Why don't you go outside?"

The boy was quite astonished, did his mother somehow sense what he was debating internally?

"Um... Okay!" He replied, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Kurosawa Ayumu, I don't want any excuses! Boys your-"

Kurosawa Meiko, his mother, stopped abruptly mid-lecture. The sound of footsteps climbing the stairs to the first floor.

"3... 2... 1.."

Kurosawa began to count down mentally, and just as he reached "0", his mother scurried into sight.

He closed his eyes, begging her to not create a scene he associates with badly written comedy.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked worriedly, checking his forehead for his temperature with the back of her hand.

To Kurosawa's surprise, this was quite a mild reaction compared to what he had expected.

Maybe she wasn't as stressed as she usually was, seeing how his father and sister had went to visit his grandparents. (his father's parents.) It was common knowledge for the Kurosawa siblings (and their neighbors, who were courteous enough to act otherwise) that their parents had an astounding lack of tact (read: common sense) when speaking to each other, thus leading to (very loud) misunderstandings on very trivial matters.

"Um, no Mother, I'm fine." He said in his soft, almost inaudible voice.

"Looks like it." She said matter-of-factly before giving him a puzzled look for about 5 seconds.

"...Can I go now?"

"Um, oh. Hahaha, sorry dear. You go on." She said awkwardly before leaving, still thoroughly confused. "Oh, and please be back before it gets dark." she said with a back glance.

"Yes." he replied obediently while thinking, _"Sure, I'm really the kind of person likely to stay outside late."_

He gave a theatrical and somewhat pointless sigh before getting dressed in his winter things. The thick protective layer of clothes made him look a bit larger than he actually was, but his round face really made it seem like he was a bit overweight (which, given his adversity to physical activities, wasn't totally inaccurate.).

Before leaving, he tidied up his room a bit, he dreaded the lecture he would face if his mother found his bed in that state of disarray. And with an afterthought, decided to take a bit of extra money with him just in case of emergencies. (He couldn't help but admire the amount he was able to save up in these four years.)

As he went through the front door a cold breeze hit his face, making him shiver slightly and screw up his eyes. It wasn't the best feeling for him, but he would take this over the stuffy feeling he got during the summer in his school uniform any day.

The front of their house, with the sole exception of the path leading to the road. When he reached the sidewalk, he looked left and right in confusion.

Kurosawa, being the shut-in he was, was only familiar with a small part of the city. He had a working knowledge of the roads around the neighbouring shopping district and the area around his school out of necessity, though.

He fiddled with the bangs that fell to his forehead while thinking. Where was a potentially interesting place in this city that he could quickly check out?

_"Let's see... The park?" _He thought, picking the first obvious place, _"...I can't believe I even bothered considering it. I mean, seriously."_

Interesting landmarks... He had been able to steal a glance of a river when they moved to this city. He remembered a vast field on its other bank that led to the forest and neighboring town. He didn't recall the town's name, but remembered a school named Hakuren was located in the town.

Most people would find it odd that he remembered the name of the school in it rather than the town itself, but there was a valid reason for this. Though the town he lives in, his school, the neighboring town and even Hakuren itself was quite plain and easily overlooked, Hakuren had become famous for having a team with a formidable forward.

He was said to be quite the athlete; he played multiple winter sports along with soccer, and his nickname was "Bear-killer" which Kurosawa found highly intimidating. The person was supposedly only a year older than him! He could not imagine what kind of person he was, nor what kind of physique he had. He just knew that he did _not _want to meet him, much less run afoul of him.

But that was out of question. Just too far away for his tastes.

He unconsciously began to walk towards the nearest bus stop, thinking that he might as well visit that unusually popular soccer field about ten minutes from there.

He was able to get on the scarcely populated bus within a few minutes and took a seat in the mid section, beside the window. Yes, he did prefer window seats.

He was met with the uninteresting sight of a small town during a rather snowy winter vacation. Very few people were actually outside, and the only crowd one would be likely to find would be in the shopping district and commercial area with lots of cafes, businesses and the likes.

He suddenly noticed many people around the soccer field he wanted to visit. Pressing his cheek against the cold glass, he was able to see many people watching an ongoing soccer match.

The players were all around his age, and so were most of the spectators. He couldn't help note how obsessed most Japanese people were with soccer these days for no particular reason.

So he paid the fare and jumped off the bus (literally, he had a habit of skipping over a step when climbing up or down stairs.) before walking over to the corner of the field, careful to keep a good distance from the kids sitting in groups around the field and cheering loudly.

The score was a whopping 6 to 0 goals, which greatly surprised Kurosawa. As far as he knew, it was exceedingly hard to score that many goals in soccer. And apparently, it was still the first half. He stood behind the losing team's goalpost on the far upper left corner of the field.

He almost suspected to see some older kids in the team that was in the lead as he scanned the players carefully, but it was quite the opposite. The team without a single goal to them were the ones with at least three middle school kids in their ranks, but they were still being utterly destroyed.

And it wasn't like the other team was strong either. They were arguably the worse off, sans one person...

Kurosawa's eyes widened as he saw a blur of white steal the ball from one of the middle school kids who were playing as forwards beautifully and with unbelievable ease.

Was it really a human? Or was it a blizzard incarnate? Those movements were so enthralling, yet so savagely devastating. One would not be blamed if he assumed that it was a Yuki-anesa, a snow demoness said to be as beautiful, yet as ruthless as pure ice.

But it wasn't a female, but a young boy around his age, although delicate looking.

With unrivaled speed and finesse, he dominated the field, and as soon as he was able to get within twenty feet of the penalty box, he kicked the ball upwards and spun it with the sole of his feet and it became encased in ice.

"_Eternal-_"

With a smirk that seemed so out of place on such a kind face, he kicked the ball towards the goalpost with an impossible amount of strength for such a frail looking boy.

"_-Blizzard!_"

Kurosawa looked on in awe, almost feeling jealous and inadequate at the same time... It was very likely that the ball would go in!

But two of the middle school kids, their face showing determination, ran up to the ball and they attempted to redirect it-

"_Zephyr's Shield!_"

They both went into sliding tackles with golden wind trailing behind them. The luminous slipstreams converged in the form of an "X" before spiraling into a dome shape of shifting wind.

The ball hit the wind and was seemingly stopped for a second before completely breaking the shield and sending both of the opposing players flying.

But the ball wasn't able to completely neutralize the winds, and a small gale made from the broken shield sent the ball off its trajectory.

It missed the goal by a few feet and bent in an odd angle... And it was heading right towards him!

He only noticed at the last moment since the ball was so fast it was very difficult to distinguish the path its likely to take.

With only enough time to curse his fate, Kurosawa could only mutter "Crud..." before the ball hit him squarely in the face, making him see stars.

He vaguely registered people yelling and the sound of scrambling footsteps as he fell to the ground, his fall mercifully broken by the layer of soft snow on the outskirts of the field.

The world dissolved itself in a wave of nausea and pain as Kurosawa's consciousness faded.

* * *

I remember one time I complained that there weren't enough friendship fics, and someone told me to write my own if I wanted to read the genre so badly. So here it is with a watered down Kurosawa.

Please Review!


	2. The Hound's Entreaty

_**Monochrome Days**_

_**Chapter 2: The Hound's Entreaty**_

"Everyone! Please don't crowd around him! Give him some breathing space!" One of the older members of the gaggle of kids exclaimed as everyone gathered around the fallen boy.

"It's _him!_" One of them with a blue scarf whispered to a teal haired boy beside him.

The teal-net nodded knowingly, "Should've guessed. The guy's probably got the worst luck in Hokkaido. No, the whole of Japan!"

"I think I almost had a pre-pr-premonition about this when I saw him coming here." Another one of the group said loudly, only quieting to cover the pronunciation trouble before raising his volume again.

Fubuki quietly approached, and the crowd gathering around the fallen boy instantly dispersed. It was quite obvious that they were reluctant to go near the one-man team.

Quite contrary to his title of "Bear-killer", he was quite the lovely person people would fawn over... If not for his "peculiarity".

He went up to Kurosawa and crouched down beside him, lightly patting him on the cheek to wake him up.

The boy only stirred feebly. He tried for about sixty seconds. As a last try he took a hold of the front of Kurosawa's sweater and forcefully jerked him upwards before shaking him liberally.

"HEY! GET UP, DARN IT! IT WAS ONLY A BALL TO THE FACE! ARE YOU A MAN OR WHAT?!"

Everyone looked at his "subtle" methods with exasperated eyes. His split personality of Fubuki Atsuya was still the dominant one, and Fubuki Shirou attempted to pacify the fiery striker.

"Wha-wai-bui-eaw-kya-" Kurosawa spluttered unintelligibly as he was forced awake by Atsuya's "gentle" administrations.

"Finally!" He snapped loudly, making Kurosawa flinch noticeably. He let go of his front, making Kurosawa almost fall on his back again from losing balance.

"Jeez, are you stupid or something?" He chided, and some of the people still present whispered "Obviously!" before snickering at their own wit.

"I-I'm sorry!" Kurosawa apologized in a high-pitched voice as he scrambled to his feet, dusting off snow from the parts of his back he could reach.

"You should be!" He spat, making him flinch. But as he opened his mouth to continue on his tirade, he suddenly calmed down and his facial features became more gentle.

"Be careful from now on. It's dangerous to stand in places stray balls are likely to fly off to." He said in a gentle voice, totally catching Kurosawa off guard.

"Um... Yes..." Kurosawa said uncomfortably.

Fubuki, now returned to his personality of Fubuki Shirou, smiled kindly and gestured everyone to return to their positions.

The match continued as though nothing had happened, but this time Kurosawa sat closer to the crowd cheering for one team or the other.

Fubuki concentrated on the game, but in his head was lecturing the part of him that was Atsuya about being a bit more sensitive and not blowing up on people's faces for the littlest things.

"Yeah yeah Nii-san, don't have a cow." He whined dismissively as he scored another brilliant goal.

"_Atsuya, you know very well that you were not giving it your all in that shot. If you'd just taken it seriously, that wouldn't have happened._" Fubuki persisted, not willing to let it go.

"Alright, alright... Jeez, you can go and apologize to the kid when the match's over." Atsuya whispered in an irritated voice. He really disliked admitting he was wrong to anyone but his brother.

"_Okay! How about I change your diapers afterwards as well?_" Shirou said in an angelic voice in his head.

Atsuya flinched, "No thanks, I'll apologize to him myself."

Even though his brother was the nicest person one could meet, in his mind he was _quite _fond of scathingly sardonic remarks which could be really intimidating. It was a testament that he had really displeased him, because he rarely spoke like that.

To put into perspective: Shirou was quite understanding when he had forcibly taken control of his body the other day during a practice match. He thought his Nii-san was being needlessly defensive in his plays. So after that match, he had only gotten light scoldings like his usual kind and gentle self would give.

But times like these where he refused to listen to him, he would go into his "Onii-sama" mode, like their late mother's "Okaa-sama" mode which she employed against them and their father at times.

And if anyone heard him during these brief spells as "Shirou-onii-sama", any images of his being a kind, understanding, gentle and overall desirable elder brother figure would be shattered to tiny pieces. Or maybe this bit of Fubuki Shirou was only reserved for him?

As he passed the ball to one of his teammates to give the other team a breather, he was able to steal a glance at the spectators.

And he was promptly hit by a feeling of exasperation as he saw the boy who had been knocked out sitting a few feet away from the group of rowdy and loud spectators.

He wasn't actually watching (which Atsuya thought was an insult to his "awesomeness") but had his face scrunched up in a look that one would get if he was humiliated and laughed at in the middle of a class.

"What. An. Oddball." Atsuya commented as he dashed in front of the charging forward who was able to steal the ball. He easily took possession of the ball and to vent his feelings sent an extra strong Eternal Blizzard towards the poor sap of a goalkeeper.

"_Most people think that we're oddballs as well, so I think we'll get along splendidly for the few seconds it would take for you to say your sorry._" Shirou said reprovingly, quite tired of his brother's whining.

Atsuya just grunted in response.

After the match ended (with the obvious result of 13-0 goals), the overjoyed boys who had asked him to help them bowed to him, "Thank you very much!" they all said loudly and cheered after rising.

"Well, I couldn't really turn down an offer to play soccer." Fubuki said, smiling kindly.

"But still," One of the boys stated joyfully, "without your help we would've been doomed!"

"_Ya got that right!_" Atsuya said proudly in Shirou's head. Shirou just sighed and shook his head, vexed at his brother's overblown ego.

"Is something the matter?" The leader of the group of boys asked in a worried voice.

"U-uh nothing, Saegusa-kun." Fubuki said, waving an airy hand.

"Oh, okay then." Saegusa said, relieved. "Anyway, let us treat you to something!"

"It's okay, really. I didn't really help you expecting-"

"We insist!"

"Okay then." Shirou said, smiling slightly. But he stopped for a moment as he was leaving to scan the crowd for the raven-haired boy.

"Come on!"

They left for the nearest vending machine while chatting animatedly. It was only a few blocks away, and soon enough they were all getting their favorite things to drink.

"What would you like, Senpai?" Saegusa asked him brightly.

"Hmm..." Shirou pondered, scanning the contents of the vending machine. "_I want milk coffee._"

"I'll have Red-bean soup!" Shirou said cheerfully, completely ignoring his brother. "_Hey! Nii-san! I want coffee! You know I don't like sweet things!_"

"Here you go!" Saegusa said, passing him the lukewarm can. A truck passed by them, and they all shivered at the gale of cool air it left behind.

"_Nii-san! Nii-san! Don't ignore me!_"

"_Okay, okay. I'll get you a can later._" Shirou thought in his head.

"_No fair! I was the one who won the match for them!_"

"_Okay, I'll get you two cans. Happy?_"

"_Very. You're the best, Nii-san!_"

"_Only when I give you what you want._" Shirou sighed.

Just as he had opened his can of Red bean soup and put it to his lips, Shirou felt a strange sensation on the back of his neck.

"What's wrong?" one of the boys called Mitsuzuri asked him as he quickly turned to look behind him.

"Nothing... I just have the strangest feeling that we're being watched." Shirou said softly.

"Really?" Saegusa asked, looking around. He seemingly caught a glimpse of something and grinned.

"Hey! Kurosawa, you can come out!" He yelled at a small alley near them.

There was a strange whimper and the sound of scrambling feet in the snow from there.

"Hey now, your cover's blown. Come out already." Saegusa said.

"Um... No one's here! You're mistaken!" A childish voice replied, and some of the number slapped their hand on their cheek or forehead in frustration muttering something on the lines of "Idiot" or "Moron".

Mitsuzuri on the other hand stomped over to the alley and disappeared from view for a few moments. Sounds of scuffling and a few squeaks came for a while before Kurosawa was dragged unceremoniously out into the group.

"You again..." Shirou said softly.

"I-I'm really sorry!" He said in a panicked voice and bowed to them at large.

"What were you up to anyway?" Saegusa asked, crossing his arms beneath his chest.

"N-nothing! Nothing a-at all!" He stuttered awkwardly.

Mitsuzuri raised an eyebrow, not really buying it.

"Uh-um..." Kurosawa mumbled as he twiddled his fingers.

"Spit it out already!" Mitsuzuri snapped in an irritated voice.

Kurosawa flinched and said in an inaudible voice, "C-could I h-h-have a w-word w-with..." He gestured towards Shirou.

"Me?" He asked, pointing at himself.

Kurosawa nodded stiffly in reply.

"Okay, I don't mind. I needed to speak to you as well." He replied kindly.

"Hey, introduce yourself to him!" Saegusa said, pushing Kurosawa from the back a bit.

Kurosawa nearly trembled, but regained his composure and bowed.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Kurosawa Ayumu..." He said in his usual quiet voice.

"Same here. My name's Fubuki Shirou." Shirou said graciously.

"Be sure to be polite to him! He's our Senpai, you know!" Mitsuzuri said proudly as he and Saegusa puffed up in pride.

"S-senpai?" Kurosawa stuttered, "You mean he's not our age?"

"Of course not!" Saegusa all but shouted, "What would make you think that?!"

"Umm..." Kurosawa stayed quiet, deciding not to point out that his stature would suggest otherwise.

"Anyway, be polite and show some respect!" Mitsuzuri said bossily.

"_That's right, you tell him, Mitsuzuri!_" Atsuya chimed proudly in Shirou's head.

"Mitsuzuri, don't you think that's a bit redundant? Remember, you're talking to Keigo*-kun!" One of the boys said jokingly.

Everyone but Shirou laughed, not really understanding the joke. He only saw Kurosawa's expression which suggested that he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock at that point.

"Keigo-kun?" Shirou asked Saegusa in an undertone after a while, making sure that Kurosawa didn't hear them.

"Oh, that." He whispered back with an amused look on his face. "Well, he's pretty well known for his weird over-the-top formal way of speaking, among other things." He explained. "Didn't you notice he uses "Watashi" to refer to himself rather than "Boku" or "Ore" like any normal boy would? And how he uses the o- and go- prefixes for the proper nouns and conjugates the verbs with -imassu and ends sentences with dessu?"

"That I have. So I'm guessing that's where he gets the name."

"You got it."

"_Told ya, oddball to the tenth power._" Atsuya said in his head.

"_Everyone has their unique quirks._"

"_That's more of an oddity than a quirk._"

"_That's quite rich coming from you of all people._"

"_What do you mean by that?!_"

"_Nothing._"

* * *

After saying farewell to the group of kids, Shirou decided that it was time to let Atsuya apologize to Kurosawa.

"_Do I have to?_" Atsuya whined, not really looking forward to the prospect.

But Shirou was resolute, and he adjusted the scarf he was wearing and let Atsuya come out.

"Um..." Kurosawa looked like he wanted to say something. But before he could say something, Atsuya bowed and straighetend up.

"Fubuki-san?" Kurosawa asked, puzzled.

"Uuh, sorry." Atsuya muttered disdainfully.

"?" Kurosawa still looked puzzled.

"For blowing my top back then, idiot!" Atsuya snapped, making Kurosawa recoil a bit. "There, I apologized. Happy now?"

"Umm... There really was no need, actually. It was my fault anyway." Kurosawa said dejectedly as he drew on the snow with the toe of his shoe.

"No, I needed to do this." Shirou said, coming back as the dominant personality.

"_No I didn't._"

"So what did you want to tell me, Kurosawa?" Shirou asked kindly.

"Um... You w-were really great on the field... Really fast, I could barely see you properly... Um, you're a really good athlete, it seems... A-and... and..."

"And?" Shirou urged.

"And I was wondering if..." He said, his voice trailing away into inaudible mumbles.

"Sorry, I can't hear you." Shirou said.

He tried again, but only mumbles came out. He tried for about two minutes before Atsuya lost his patience.

"SPEAK UP!" He bust out, taking over his brother's body.

Kurosawa jumped so much that his feet actually left the ground and he fell into a bow at lightning fast speed, "PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO PLAY SOCCER!" he said loudly.

Dumbfounded, Atsuya stared at Kurosawa like the dozen or so people who stopped to stare at them.

"What?" He asked flatly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I was being stupid... I knew you had better things to do... I'll just leave. I'm sorry again for such a stupid request." He said in a mortified voice before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Shirou called, regaining control and he grabbed Kurosawa's shoulder.

Kurosawa looked at him with apprehension mixed with hope.

"Okay. I guess I wouldn't mind having a student." Shirou said with a smile.

"_Let's make him call me "Shishou" or "Sensei"; that would be so cool!_"

"Really?" Kurosawa said, almost not daring to believe his ears.

"Yes. Honestly, you're the first person who asked." Shirou said, before adding thoughtfully, "For some reason, everyone I ask to accompany me in training gets scared off."

"What?" Kurosawa asked, quite fazed by the revelation.

"Anyway, be at the Frozen Field near the river at noon." Shirou said in an amused voice as he left for home.

"What?" Kurosawa asked again blankly.

Shirou waved without turning back.

"_Bet you 500 yen that he'll only last the first hour._" Atsuya said snidely in his head.

"Let's not underestimate him." Shirou said casually, "But I don't expect much either. He doesn't seem physically fit enough."

* * *

_**Notes:**_

_**Keigo: Japanese mode of formal speech. Usually only fully employed by adults and learnt by one's late teens in Japan. Highly unusual when used among peers. Thought of as sarcastic and or cold and distant when used among close friends and family.**_

_**Shishou: Instructor, usually used for martial arts instructors.**_

_**Sensei: Everyone knows this one.**_

_**Shirou denotes that it's Fubuki's personality speaking.**_

_**Atsuya denotes Atsuya's personality speaking.**_

_**I used "Fubuki" to denote the person as a whole when a specific personality doesn't hold. I hope it's not confusing.**_


End file.
